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A West Virginia University expert says that eliminating the Clean Power Plan will have little effect on bringing back coal jobs because market forces, not regulations have undermined the coal industry’s future. To tell coal miners otherwise is “cruel,” according to WVU law professor James Van Nostrand, who accused EPA administrator Scott Pruitt of engaging in “demagoguery at its worst” and “playing on the hopes and fortunes” of people in coal dependent states who deserve better from their leaders.

One of the most powerful tools in the West Virginia University LaunchLab array is the pitch competition, in which students prepare tightly-times presentations about their products or businesses that they then deliver to a panel of judges. WVU LaunchLab aims to support student entrepreneurs, innovators and start-ups by helping to develop business models, and introducing students to potential investors and customers. The Fall Kickoff Pitch Competition was held in September, and WVU LaunchLab is currently accepting entries in its Women’s Pitch Competition.

West Virginia’s rural communities often suffer from a shortage of behavioral health care providers, a deficiency being addressed by West Virginia University’s School of Social Work, which has implemented the Rural Integrated Behavioral Health Training program. The program trains Masters of Social Work students to work in these communities, and has received its third cycle of funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration.

An onslaught of news from the aftermath of mass shootings to that of hurricanes leaves some Americans in a despondent funk, while others absorb what has happened and move on, according to a West Virginia University expert, who goes on to say that human beings who have been exposed to such events over time, even when they are not a part of them, are on a “spectrum” from experiencing vicarious traumatization to desensitization.

Wheeling artist Lacie Wallace came to terms with her “cancer body” in one of the only ways she could—her art. Wallace’s bright and intimate portraits are coupled with narratives as she chronicles her experiences in and out of hospitals as a cancer patient. Her exhibit “Bodies of Truth: An Artist’s Creative Exploration through Cancer” is on display in the Health Sciences Pylons Area, where WVU Libraries will host a reception Oct. 10 at 5 p.m.